Billet nicking machine



April 18, 1950 J. L. ANDERSON 2,504,171

' BILLET mcxmc MACHINE Filed April 22, 1944 I 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTORATTORNEYS April 18, 1950 J. L. ANDERSON BILLET NICKING MACHINE 5Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed April 22, 1944 fa-mvzmon A m ATTQ R N EY5 April 18,1950 J. L. ANDERSON BILLET mcxme umcnms 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed April 22,1944 INVENTOR ATTORNEYS Patented Apr. 18, 1950 BILLET NICKING MACHINEJames L. Anderson, Closter, N. 1., assignor to Air Reduction Company,Incorporated, a corporation of New York Application April 22, 1944,Serial No. 532,273

Claims. 1

This invention relates to billet nicking apparatus adapted to nick orgroove billets at a number of places along the length of the billet sothat it may subsequently be broken by mechan ical means into shortpieces suitable for use as stock blanks in forging articles of variouskinds. More particularly, the invention relates to billet nickingmachines of the type in which the nicking is done by means of a gascutting torch which cuts the nicks successively along one side of abillet, or by two of such torches which simultaneously cut a pair ofnicks successively along opposite sides of a single billet or the outersides of two adiacent billets.

The principal object of the invention is to improve the construction andoperation of a billet nicking machine of the type mentioned,particularly by providing improved means for moving the cutting torch ortorches to the successive positions where the billet is to be nicked; byproviding improved means for bringing the tip of each torch to itsproper position with respect to the billet to start a nick regardless ofany crookedness of the billet; and by providing certain other novelfeatures as will hereinafter appear.

In the accompanying drawings:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a nicking machine embodying theimprovements Fig. 2 is a plan view of the nicking head of the machineshown in Fig. 1, certain parts being broken away and certain parts beingshown in horizontal section;

Fig. 3 is a transverse vertical section of the nicking head taken on theline 33 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a longitudinal vertical section of the nicking head taken onthe line 4-4 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a longitudinal vertical section of the nicking head taken onthe line 55 of Fig. 3; and

Fig. 6 is a horizontal section of a portion of the machine taken on theline 6-3 of Fig. 3.

The machine shown in the drawings comprises a suitable framework I(Fig. 1) which supports a pair of horizontally spaced longitudinal mem-'bers 2 (see also Fig. 3). A number of billetsupporting rolls 3 span thelongitudinal members 3 and are rotatably mounted on them. All of therolls 3 are geared to a driving shaft 4 as. shown in Fig. 6 and thisshaft is adapted to be driven from an electric motor 3 (Fig. 1) througha sprocket chain 3.

While the machine shown in the drawings is capable of nicking a singlebillet it was 8513B:

cially designed to simultaneously nick the outer sides only of twoadjacent billets. The two bilare placed on the rolls 3 side by side. andthe rolls are then driven by the motor I to feed the billets toward therear of the machine until they abut against a stop I raised to itsoperative position by the piston of a fluid-pressure cylinder 3.

A nicking head designated in general by the reference numeral 8 in Fig.1 has a frame 9 (Fig. 3) which is supported by rollers ii on horizontalflanges ii on 1 the two longitudinal members 3 (Figs. 1, 3 and 4).Theflanges ll constitute a track along which the nicking head may bemoved longitudinally of the billets to bring it to the proper nickingposition as hereinafter described. Side rollers I! (Fig. 3), carried bythe nicking head frame 9, bear against the sides of a rail it on one ofthe longitudinal members I (the one at the near side of the machine asviewed in Fig. 1) to prevent lateral movement of the nicking head and toguide it in a straight line when it is moved longitudinally of thebillets.

The horizontal flanges i l on the longitudinal members 2 also serve as atrack for movably supporting a cut-oil device denoted in general by thereference numeral ll in Fig. 1., As shown in this figure, the cut-offdevice is provided with rollers I! which run on the horizontal flangesii. After the billets are fed into 'the inachine against the stop I, thecut-off device is moved manually to a position in which the billets willbe cutto the desired length when a gas cutting torch It is movedtransversely acros the billets by a self-propelled torch carriage l1.Ordinarily the distance from the rear ends of the billets to the placeat which the forward ends are trimmedv by the torch It will be amultiple of the distance.

between the nicks to be cut in the billet. If desired, of course, thetrimming of the ends of the billets by the torch it may be effectedafter. the nicking of the billets is completed instead.

of before the nicking is started.

The above-mentioned rail l3 has a series of notches is in its upper facewhich are equally spaced by a distance equal to the distance be tweenthe nicks to be cut in the billets. The nicking head frame 9 pivotallysupports a pawl i! (Figs. 3, 4 and 6) the tooth 23 of which is adaptedto drop by gravity into one of the notches II, as best shown in Fig. 4..A part of the nicking head frame carries a longitudinal guide 3| (Figs.3, 4 and 6) on which there is mounted a slide 22. This slide is rigidlyconnected to the piston'rod-23.,(Fig. 4) of a piston 24 operating in afluid-pressure cylinder 25. This cylinder is rigidly connected at itsrear end, i. e.. its leftend lets to be nicked. designated 3 and B inFig. 3, 66 as viewed in Figs. 3, 4 and 6, to the frame of the nickinghead. The slide 22 pivotally carries a second pawl 26. When the nickinghead is in one of its nlcking positions and the tooth of the first pawlI9 is in engagement with one of the notches 18 as shown in Fig. 4, thepawl 26 normally has the relation to pawl l3 shown in this figure. Whenmotive fluid, such as compressed air, is admitted to the forward end ofthe cylinder the piston 24 is moved rearwardly to move the slide 22rearwardly along the'guide 2|. When the pawl 26 reaches the pawl IS, adog 21 on the pawl l9 rides up over a dog 28 on the pawl 26 therebylifting the tooth on the pawl l9 out of its notch l8. The end of thepawl 26 drops into this notch whereupon rearward motion of the slide 22is arrested. When this happens the continued pressure in cylinder 26 nowmoves the cylinder forwardly, i. e., toward the right, as viewed in Fig.4, and moves with it the entire nicking head since the head is now freeto be moved in this manner because of the lifting of the pawl l9 out ofits notch. Forward movement of the nicking head continues until the pawlI9 is to the right of pawl 26, as viewed in Fig. 4, and until the tooth20 on the pawl l9 drops into the next notch 19. When the compressed airis released from the cylinder 25 a spring (not shown) returns the piston24, the slide 22, and its pawl 26, to the starting position shown inFig. 4. During the return stroke of the pawl 26 its dog 28 rides up andover the dog 21 on the pawl l9. As will hereinafter appear the billetsare nicked in successive positions of the nicking head in which thetooth on pawl l9 engages in one of the notches I8,

and after each nicking operation the nicking head is advanced in themanner just described to the next nicking position in which the tooth onthe pawl l9 engages in the next preceding notch.

- To begin the nicking operation the nicking head is rolled manually tothe rear end of the machine. To permit this, the pawls l9 and 26 arelifted manually so as not to engage the notches i8, and are held intheir raised position until the nicking head has been moved to the rearend of the machine. The nlcking head is in the starting position at therear end of the machine when the tooth 20 of pawl I3 is in the notch l8nearest the stop I (Fig. 1).

At each side of the machine the nicking head has a gas cutting torchwhich is adapted to nick the outer side face of the adjacent billet whenthe torch is moved vertically as hereinafter described. The torch andits actuating means are mounted on a carriage which is capable ofvertical movement within another carriage. which is movable horizontallytoward and away from the adjacent billet by power means. These parts areduplicated at opposite sides of the machine and the description of theparts at one side of the machine will sufllce for those at the otherside.

Referring to Figs. 2, 3 and 4, the above-mentioned horizontally movablecarriage is shown at 29. It is provided with rollers 39 which run ontransversely disposed horizontal track rails 3| on the nicking headframe. nicking head frame bear against the vertical side walls of thecarriage 29 to prevent it from moving laterally when it is rolled on thetrackrails 3| toward or away from the adjacent billet. The

carriage 29 is moved toward the adjacent billet by afiuid motorcomprising a pressure cylinder 33 supported by the nicking head frame,as best shown in Fig. 3, and a piston operating in the cylinder. Thepiston rod 34 of the fluid motor Side rollers 32 on the is rigidlyconnected to a cross member 29' on the carriage 29. When motive fluid,such as compressed air, is admitted to the cylinder 33 the piston rod34, acting on the cross member 29' of the carriage, moves the carriagetowards the adjacent billet until the end of a stop 35 carried by thecarriage engages the verticalside of the billet.

The cutting torch and the motor for actuating it are carried by acarriage 36 which is mounted to move vertically within the carriage 29.As best shown in Fig. 2 each of the two vertical side walls 36 of thecarriage 36 carries at its outer side four guide rollers 31 arranged intwo pairs with an upper and lower roller in each pair. The twovertically aligned rollers of each pair operate between a pair ofvertical rails 38 projecting from the inner side of the vertical sidewalls of the horizontally movable carriage 29, as best shown in Fig. 2.The carriage 36 is further guided during its vertical movement by anumber of rollers 39 supported by the vertical walls of the carriage 23and which bear against the outer sides of the two vertical walls of thecarriage 36.

The vertically movable carriage 36 at its end nearest the billet, has avertical wall 40 from which a pair of vertical flanges 4i project towardthe adjacent billet, as best shown in Fig. 2. These flanges carry guiderolls for the torch as will hereinafter appear. The torch itself isshown at 42. It is a gas cutting torch such as an oxyacetylene cuttlngtorch. The casing of the torch is vertically disposed and lies betweenthe two flanges 4| just referred to. At its lower end the torch has atip 43 which is directed toward the vertical side of the adjacent billetsupported on the rollers 3, as shown in Fig. 3. The vertical casing ofthe torch has diametrically opposite flanges 44 which are guided byrollers 45 mounted at the inr er sides of the flanges 4| on thevertically movable carriage 36. At the rear of the torch casing there isa rack 46 which meshes with a pinion 41 (Fig. 3) driven by an electricmotor 48 through suitable reduction gearing. The motor 48 is supportedon the floor of the vertically movable carriage 36. It has an adjustablecentrifugal speed control governor 49 of a well known type. Gas, such asa mixture of oxygen. and acetylene, is fed to the torch through hoseconnections indicated at 50.

The operative stroke of the torch during which the billet is nicked ispreferably its upward stroke, although both the upward and downwardstrokes of the torch may be utilized to nick the billet if so desired.For instance, one nick may be made by upward movement of the torch andthe next of the billet B is simultaneously nicked as the tip or the lefthand torch moves upwardly across it. After the billets have been nickedthroughout their 'height the motors may be stopped in any suitable way.The torches are returned to their starting position by reversing theelectric motors, and the reverse operation of the motors may be stoppedin any suitable way when the torches reach the starting position.

I aaoarrr After the billets are nicked in the first position of thenicking head at the rear of the machine, the nicking head is advanced inthe manner hereinbefore described by admitting compressed air to thecylinder 25 to bring the nicking head to the second nicking position inwhich the tooth 20 on the pawl it engages in the second notch it fromthe left, as viewed in Fig. 1. The nicking operation is then repeated inthis position and so on until billets have been nicked throughout theirentire length.

While the billets to be nicked are fairly uniform in height and widthnevertheless they are frequently wavy or crooked. In other words, whilethe opposite faces of eachbillet may be substantially parallel they arenot always perfectly flat. Therefore an adjustment of the machine whichwill bring one of the torch tips to the proper elevation with respect tothe adjacent billet at the start and finish of a nicking operation forone position of the nicking head will not necessarily be correct foranother of its positions because in such other position of the nickinghead the portion of the billet to be nicked may be either depressed orelevated by reason of vertical undulations existing in the billet. Totake care of this, there is secured to the vertical wall 40- of eachvertically movable carriage 36 aninwardly pro- ,iecting cam best shownin Fig. 3. When one of the horizontally movable carriages 29 is movedinwardly to bring, its stop against the outer vertical face of thecorresponding billet, an in- As above stated the machine was especiallydesigned for nicking the outer faces of two adjacent billets, such asthose shown at B and B, but if desired a single billet may be fed to themachine and nicked simultaneously on its opposite side faces by the twotorches in each nicking position of the nicking head. Moreover, ifdesired, all of the nicking mechanism at one side of the machine may beomitted if the machine is to be used only on single billets and ifnicking one side only of the billet will suffice.

While the nicking instrumentalities herein shown and described are gascutting torches, so far as certain features of the invention areconcerned high temperature cutting devices of any other suitable typemay be used instead.

I claim:

1. In a billet nicking machine having a nicking head and a carriagemounted on the nicking head which is horizontally movable relativethereto transversely of the billet, the combination therewith of asecond carriage mountedqfor vertical clined surface 52 at the lower edgeof the correspending cam 5| rides up on the billet and lifts itsvertically movable carriage 36 to bring the tip of the torch mounted onthat carriage to the proper starting position at the lower face of thebillet.

Thus for each nicking operation throughout the length of the billet thetorch tip will always be brought to its proper starting position at thelower face of the billet whenthe horizontally movable carriage 29 movesthe torch tip horizontally up to the vertical face of the billet, andthe cutting stroke of the torch will always be arrested when the torchtip reaches the proper position slightly above the upper face of thebillet, regardless of the fact that the billet may have verticalundulations in it. Moreover, regardless of any horizontal undulations inthe billets, each carriage 29 will move the tip of the correspondingtorch horizontally to its proper position with respect to the side faceof the adjacent billet in each position of the nicking head, because thestop 3! acts as a gauge to space the tip of the torch the properhorizontal distance from the side face of the billet and the carriage 29always moves inwardly until its stop strikes the billets side wall.Since the two vertically movable carriages 36 at opposite sides of themachine are independently movable by their respective cams BI, and sincethe horizontally movable carriages 29 at opposite sides of the machineare independently movable, the torch at each side of the machine will beautomatically positioned as to its starting position in accordance withthe particular undulations in the corresponding billet, which, ofcourse, would probably not coincide with those in the adjacent billet.

As shown in Fig. 2 the cams 5| are offset with respect to each otherlengthwise of the billets so that they may overlap and not strike ifbillets of smaller size areto be nicked.

After the billets B and B have been nicked throughout their entirelength. the stop I is lowered by exhausting the motive fluid from themovement on the first carriage, agas cutting torch on the secondcarriage having a tip directed' toward a vertical side wall of thebillet, a member secured to the second carriage adapted to engage thebillet during horizontal movement of the first carriage toward thebillet to thereby move the second carriage vertically and properlyposition the torch tip to start a nick, and means for moving the torchvertically and relative to the second carriage to traverse the torch tipover said vertical side wall of the billet.

2. In a billet nicking machine having a nicking head and a carriagemounted on the nicking head which is horizontally movable relativethereto transversely of the billet, the combination theretravers thetorch tip over said vertical side wall of the billet.

3. In a billet nicking machine having a nicking head and a carriagemounted on the nicking head which is horizontally movable relativethereto transversely of the billet, the combination therewith of asecond carriage mounted for vertical movement on the first carriage, agas cutting torch on the second carriage having a tip directed toward avertical side wall of the billet, a cam secured to the second carriagehaving an inclined surface adapted to engage the top of the billetduring horizontal movement of the first carriage toward the billetto'thereby move the second carriage vertically and properly position thetorch tip to start aznick, and an electric motor mounted on the secondcarriage and operatlvely connected to the torch to move it verticallyrelative to the second carriage to traverse the torch tip over saidvertical side wall of the billet.

4. In a billet nicking machine having a nicking head and a carriagemounted on the nicking head which is horizontally movable relativethereto transversely of the billet, the combination therewith of asecond carriage mounted for vertical movement on the first carriage, agas cutting torch on the second carriage having a tip directed toward avertical side wall of the billet, means for moving the torch verticallyand relative to the second carriage to traverse the torch tip over saidvertical side wall of the billet, a stop carried by the first carriageadapted to engage said vertical side wall of the billet to arresthorizontal movement of the first carriage toward the billet when thetorch tip is properly spaced horizontally from said vertical sidewall ofthe billet, and a member secured to the second carriage adapted toengage the billet during the horizontal movement of the first carriagetoward the billet to thereby move the second carriage vertically andbring the torch tip to the proper elevation with respect to the billetto start a nick.

5. In a billet nicking machine having a nicking head and a carriagemounted on the nicklng head which is horizontally movable relativethereto transversely of the billet, the combination therewith of asecond carriage mounted for vertical movement on the first carriage, agas cutting torch on the second carriage having a tip directed toward avertical side wall of the billet, means for moving the torch verticallyand relative to the second carriage to traverse the torch tip over saidvertical side wall of the billet, a stop carried by the first carriageadapted to engage said vertical side wall of the billet to arresthorizontal movement of the first carriage toward the billet when thetorch tip is properly spaced horizontally from said vertical side wallof the billet, and a cam secured to the second carriage having aninclined surface adapted to engage the top edge of the billet duringhorizontal movement of the first carriage toward the billet to therebylift the second carriage and bring the torch tip to the proper elevationwith respect to the billet to start a nick.

JAMES L. ANDERSON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the tile ofthis :patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS

